


Shelter

by pagen_godess



Series: Guardians, Guides, and Playmates [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Healing, Hurt, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-27
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-09 15:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pagen_godess/pseuds/pagen_godess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin and Arthur take a rest under a very old tree after Arthur is bitten by a snake. A very old tree that has a face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shelter

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Shelter](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/20655) by mizuk0. 



Merlin sighed and rubbed his hands over his face before leaning down to check on Arthur. The blonde king was still pale and there were still dark marks under his eyes but he wasn't shivering as much as he had been before.

"Only you Arthur could take off your boots so you could soak your feet in a stream and get bitten by a snake." Merlin said his voice filled with an equal measure of awe and worry. There was no reply from the prince in question, not that Merlin had been expecting one. He'd put Arthur into a spelled sleep as soon as he'd gotten the man under the branches of the willow that sat several yard's away from the river.

It was a relatively weak spell that would wear off in a few hours by itself but by then it wouldn't matter because Arthur would be in a deep enough sleep that there was little chance of him waking up on his own before the sun rose the next morning. And if by some chance the clotpole did wake up before morning then Merlin would worry about that when it happened. Merlin sighed as he tucked Arthur's cloak around his body so he would be more comfortable before standing and moving around the tree that they'd taken shelter under. There was something about the tree in question that had drawn Merlin to it instead of one of the many others that grew by the river. The feeling was a soft tingle beneath his skin that he hadn't been able to ignore.

It was a feeling that he both knew and didn't know and that was only because the magic of plants was a completely different thing when compared to the magic of other living things. Trees, especially very old trees, had a magic that was drawn from the very depths of the earth and felt much older than the magic that rested on the surface. Merlin stopped as he rounded the tree a slow smile making its way across his lips. Merlin grin was bright as he realized why this tree had seemed to call to him. He'd found a heart tree. Gaius had told him that they'd all been burned or cut down during the Purge but here he was standing face to face with a heart tree.

He meant that quite literally too because the tree before him had an actual face. The face bore a gentle smile, a long slightly crooked nose, and a pair of deep-set eyes beneath large brows. Smiling Merlin reached out to place a hand on the tree before him. The bark was rough under his fingers but the magic that ran in rivers under the bark was old and soothing, the type of magic that was best for healing. Merlin threw back his head and laughed because it only made sense that he'd find a tree that had healing properties when he needed it.

His luck was funny like that. Merlin liked to think that it was destiny's way of giving him a helping hand though Merlin would have liked it if destiny would give him a helping hand when he really needed it. The snake bite on Arthur's ankle wasn't life threatening and didn't really need the healing that the heart tree would provide but Merlin was thankful for it anyways. He'd had very little to be thankful for as of late with the threat of Morgana looming over his head all the time. Merlin sighed and pulled his hand away from the tree before he moved to sit on one of the upraised roots.

There was nothing he could do about Morgana at the moment but Merlin was tired of worrying about whether or not she was going to tell Uther about him poisoning her. He had enough to worry about when it came to Arthur alone without worrying about everything else. Merlin rubbed at his eyes for a moment before he leaned back so that his back was resting on the heart tree's trunk. The flow of magic he could feel coming off of the tree was nice and without meaning too Merlin found himself relaxing. As the tension drained from Merlin's body his eyes began to droop. The sudden feeling of safety and comfort wasn't enough to send him to sleep completely but it was enough for his brain to go slightly fuzzy at the edges.

Merlin knew that no harm would come to either him or Arthur so long as the two of them were hidden from view by the willow's long vines. The peaceful magic radiating from the tree would push away those with any human or animal ill intentions. It was nice to be protected by something for once instead of having to protect. Merlin yawned and stretched but didn't bother moving from his root. Moving would come in time, when he had to get up and make something to eat for dinner and make a fire for light and warmth.

Merlin found that he wasn't in a major hurry to worry about either of those things just yet. For now he planned on sitting beneath the heart tree and drawing in as much magic from the surrounding area as he could. This act was a different kind of rest but rest none the less. His magic suffered just as much as his body did when he was stressed and it was nice to be able to close his eyes and reach out to the web of energy that crisscrossed the land. It wasn't often that he had a change to replenish his magic like this. He always had far too much to do when he was in Camelot. Not that the great city had very much to offer in magical energy anyways. The lines that ran through Camelot didn't carry magic at all anymore.

Nimueh had broken them when Uther had forced her to flee after Arthur's birth. The broken lines had been meant as a warning to anyone with enough magic to sense them. The lack of lines in Camelot didn't seem to have the desired effect however but that might have had more to do with revenge driven mad men than to do with the actual lines. While the lines could be taken as a warning they could also be taken as an offense to anyone who knew they were there. Merlin was half convinced that the broken lines drew sorcerers there because of a natural desire to fix what was broken. Merlin knew that feeling all too well. When he'd first arrived in Camelot he'd had to constantly force himself to stay away from the lines.

Gaius had given him a stern lecture about why fixing them was a bad idea because while the lines were a bother they did help keep things away more than they drew things too them. Fixing the lines would draw much more attention now that they had been dead for so long and there was no telling what would come to investigate if they were put back together. It was one of those things that made Merlin ache with want but he knew that in time he'd be able to set the lines right. All he had to do was wait. Merlin gave his head a sharp shake to clear out his thoughts before opening his eyes and stretching.

Blue eyes flicked over to Arthur's slumbering form checking to be sure that the prince was still alright. What Merlin saw caused a small smile to cross his face. Arthur's color was already better and his breathing sounded like it was coming easier than it had been when he'd first been placed beneath the heart tree. Merlin's smile stayed as he pushed himself to his feet.

He had things he needed to do before he settled again and it was best to do them now before he got lazy and put them off again. But he had one thing to do before he got to work gather wood and fixing dinner. Merlin moved so that we was standing in front of the heart tree's face again before placing a single pale hand on what would have counted as the face's forehead.

"Thank you." Merlin whispered and pushed a small amount of magic into the earth beneath his feet for the tree to feed on. Pulling his hand back Merlin moved away and began to hum softly under his breath as he began to search for wood for a fire. He didn't quite hear the tree's reply.

"You are very welcome Emrys."

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I borrowed the heart tree idea from Game of Thrones and no I have no problems with it. Ugh, I still feel like I'm floundering around like a fish with Merlin but everything I write makes me that little bit better I guess. What I need to do is sit down and rewatch my Merlin seasons. I also need to get seasons 4 and 5 and watch them. Stupid scifi not showing the last five episodes before the season comes out of DVD. Ok I'm going to stop right there because I will rant for a thousand words if I go on.
> 
> This one shot was inspired by the picture Shelter by mizu0 over on deviantart. This is the last of my picture inspired one shots. All of the stories that follow this one will be fairly random. I'm tempted to just go through one of my books on mythical creatures and so it that way. I'll try and update this series once a month at least because I still have several one shots to write for people based on their pic's. I'm also working on a few chaptered idea's for this series so with some luck those will go well. Please let me know what you guys think.


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